Is Russia set to spark WW3? Putin builds huge ARCTIC military bases just 300 miles from US

Is Russia set to spark WW3? Putin builds huge ARCTIC military bases just 300 miles from US

VLADIMIR PUTIN'S imperialist ambitions were laid bare today with an announcement that the secretive Russian war machine is planning to build three new military bases in the Arctic - just 300 miles from the US mainland.

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Mr Putin has promised not to militarise the Arctic, but officials have made it clear that Russia will take steps to ensure it remains well defended in the region.

Cape Schmidt, or Mys Shmidta as the nearest town is known in Russian, boasts a population of just a few hundred.

But crucially, it is just 320 miles from Point Hope in Alaska.

Moscow hopes placing a military base so close to American shores would give Russia the edge in any conflict with the US.

Wrangel Island, another proposed military base, is a Unesco World Heritage Site and hosts a nature reserve.

It is also thought to have been the last place on earth where mammoths survived.

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Mr Putin has promised not to militarise the Arctic

Russia has conducted a number of military drills in the Arctic this year, and Moscow plans to create a network of naval facilities in the region for submarines and warships as part of the country's military strategy through 2020.

Russia already operates military bases across eastern Europe and central Asia, including in Georgia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vietnam.